Eckel: Instant analysis of Packers loss to the Eagles.
Killer penalties on both sides of the ball, the inability to score in the red zone and yes a missed a field goal attempt all led to an opening-night loss for the Green Bay Packers.
Worse than all of that was quarterback Jordan Love being helped from the field in the final desperate seconds with a leg injury.
Despite three turnovers, two on their first two possessions, the Philadelphia Eagles had just enough to hold on for a 34-29 win over the Packers in a game played Friday night in Brazil.
The Packers were called for 10 accepted penalties on the night, one brought back what would have been a 37-yard touchdown on their first drive of the game. And two came on defense on the Eagles final drive of the game that sealed the win.
Faced with a 3rd-and-6 from the Eagles 37-yard line, Love found Jayden Reed for what appeared to be a touchdown. Both teams had 12 men on the field nullifying the play. On the next play Love threw incomplete deep for Christian Watson. Matt LaFleur planned to go for it on 4th-and-6, but yet another penalty for a false start made it 4th-and-11 and sent out the punt team.
Down by two after setting for a field goal again from the red zone, the Eagles took over seven minutes off the clock and kicked a field goal to make it a five-point lead. On 2nd-and-12 from the 25, the second play of the drive, Jaire Alexander was called for a hold. So instead of 3rd-and-12, the Eagles had a first down.
In the first quarter the Packers moved to the Eagles 13 and 5-yard lines, but both times had to settle for field goals and a 6-0 lead. They drove to the Eagles 8 in the fourth quarter down 31-26 and again settled for a field goal that cut the lead to two.
Here are the rest of the highlights and lowlights from the Packers third opening-day loss in the last four years.
Offensive Hero:. Jayden Reed caught four possessor 138 yards and a touchdown and also scored on a 33-yard touchdown run.
Offensive Zero: The offensive line as a whole had its struggles, and left tackle Rasheed Walker may have struggled the most.
Defensive Hero: The defense wasn’t good, outside of the three take-aways. But did you notice when rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper was out there it looked a lot better. Cooper also made plays on two of his first few plays. He’s coming back from a hip injury , but he needs to be out there all the time.
Defensive Zero: Alexander had a nice end-zone interception. But he had the key penalty, got beat for a long touchdown by A.J. Brown and missed a tackle early that splintered into a long gain that led to the Eagles first touchdown.
Play of the Game: Love to Reed for 70 yards in what was the longest touchdown of both of their careers.
Turning Point: Love being helped from the field could be the turning point of the season.
This and That: Sure-handed Dontayvion Wicks dropped two passes in the first half. And didn’t come down with a third throw in the second half. … Love finished 17-for-34 for 260 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. …Free agent addiction running back Josh Jacobs looked bad early, but finished with 84 yards on 16 carries. Emmanuel Wilson had 46 yards on four carries. …Xavier McKinney, the other big free agent addition, picked off Eagles QB Jalen Hurts for the third time in the last two games he played against him. … The Eagles scored 10 points in the span of 51 seconds from the end of the first half to the start of the second half. …Sean Rhyan started at right guard, but first-round pick Jordan Morgan saw time in the second half.
Injuries: On the same play where Love got hurt, center Josh Myers was also shaken up.
Inactives: Rookie running back Marshawn Lloyd, who has been bothered by a hamstring injury and was listed as questionable, sat out. Healthy inactives included wide receiver Malik Heath, tackles Kadeem Telford and Travis Glover and defensive ends Aaron Mosby, who did not make the trip for a personnel matter and Brenton Cox.
Up Next: After a few extra days off the Packers will have their home opener against the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts host the Houston Texans, Sunday.
